Tag Archives: prize

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Guerilla Parenting: Wrong Priorities


Violet Beauregarde – Wrong Priorities

The next trap I think many parents fall into is the wrong priorities trap.

We communicate to our kids every day what is important. By what we say but far more by what we do. I will start off by saying I am a very competitive person. I like to play and I love to win. I also think sports are a very important part of a child’s life.

So having said all that let me talk about an area in our culture that I believe has gotten way out of whack. That area is youth sports. I have gone to many games that kids from our church have been involved in. I am always amazed at the level of interest, passion and excitement exuded by these parents. They will sit there on those cold metal bleachers in snow, wind or rain.

What perplexes me most is that many of those same parents are not involved at any level with their kids on the weekend at church. They are not involved or actively engaging their kids in their spiritual walk at all. And many times these same parents are perplexed as to why when their kids are teens they never discuss anything about their spiritual life.

What matters most. How do you show it. Don’t just tell your kids God is cool make it an adventure. Be a part or their discovery of who God is.

Many parents I have found are a bit intimidated by a crowd of kids. I have seen powerful things happen in our kids church by parents who rolled up their sleeves and taught 14 kids about the power of God’s word and how it changed their life forever.

Practical stuff:

  1. If you asked your kids what you love most what would they say?
  2. Can you put your bum (CM talk for butt) where you mouth is? (What I mean by this one is this. If you say church matters will you be willing to step out sit on the ground and lead a small group for a wonderful group of 8 year olds? )
  3. Are you proud of how you use your time?
  4. Can you say with clarity of conscience. Follow me as I follow Christ.
  5. Can you give your kids specific examples of how you have loved God and loved others this week.

Philippians 3:12-14

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

The best line of the clip below is

“But I can’t have a daughter as a blueberry. How is she supposed to compete?”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7MyRSqpy44

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Be Attitudes Revisited: Be Consistent

1. BE SAFE
2. BE COURTEOUS
3. BE ENGAGING
4. BE CONSISTENT

This is the last of our Be Attitudes and preparation for the weekend kept me from posting the final attitude. The first two deal with getting kids to come the last two deal with getting kids to come back again.

In the church world there is always a lot of talk about closing the back door. My take is make the front door larger and once they enter the front door make the experience memorable and lifechanging that they can’t wait to come back next week.

Consistent – I think gets a bad rap. When most of us think consistent we tend to think boring. When I think of consistent I think of Disney. You know what you are going to get and they set the expectation bar very high. I recently went to Disney for 2 days a few weeks ago I hadn’t been there in 16 years nothing had changed yet everything was different. They have mastered the art of keeping the constants constant and changing just enough for things to feel fresh and to leave you wondering what will be different next time you come visit.

We as children’s workers need to be consistent in our message, values and principles, and we need to be every changing in our methods, presentations and containers that holds the never changing truths of Gods’ word.

So Uptown workers, and anyone else reading this. Lets build high expectations. Lets keep the constants…constant, and the changables…..changable.

I leave you with this thought from the Apostle Paul on what should change and what shouldn’t.

1Cor. 9:22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
1Cor. 9:23 And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
1Cor. 9:24 ¶ Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
1Cor. 9:25 And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
1Cor. 9:26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air;